Today, in Vilnius, takes place a High-Level Conference on the European Social Charter, under the auspices of Lithuania’s Presidency of the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. The Conference is hosted in Vilnius by Bjorn Berge, Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe and by Vytautas Šilinskas, Minister of Social Security and Labour of Lithuania.
The High-level Conference responds to the Reykjavik Declaration, where the Heads of State and Government stated that “Social justice is crucial for democratic stability and security and in this regard [reaffirm their] full commitment to the protection and implementation of social rights as guaranteed by the European Social Charter system.” The Conference offers an opportunity for Ministers to discuss contemporary social rights challenges and to reaffirm the crucial importance of the Charter and its monitoring procedures.
During the Conference, member states of the Council of Europe, will have the opportunity to deposit instruments taking further commitments under the Charter during a dedicated treaty event. They will also have the possibility to pledge or inform about the process engaged at domestic level towards taking additional commitments under the Charter.
The participating Ministers will be invited to adopt a forward-looking political declaration reflecting their commitment to social rights and to the European Social Charter, proposing further action they consider necessary or desirable.
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